Roll on the 20th June

[mscoffman]

@sm0ky2;

Thank you for the up close look at some of your wheel
construction techniques. This really helps for repeatability.
Please continue in the future as you make progress.

:S:MarkSCoffman

[sm0ky2]

ok, if you look at this picture here, the blue circle in the bottom left, that is a piece of the white mounting-bar that holds the lower array. silly me broke it, while trying to bend the bracket to suit my needs.. needless to say, the bracket didnt bend...
so i attached the broken piece to te bottom of the bracket, and added that wooden support (red arrow). the lower array is attached there , then tied at the top with a piece of orange wire. this is temporary, until i find another piece to attach it to the top of the bracket. the other thing to notice here is the green circle top right. The upper magnetic array is tilted back away from the rods, this is so i can calibrate the lower array.

i made a video of the calibration progress. the Torque-Proofing of the outer rod did solve the binding problem, however i am left with an incredible ammount of friction on the outer rod.

basically, im still going to have to do something about the torque problem...  the second picture explains the torque problem a little more. The rod-magnets must ride inside the red lines, so they all line up with the upper and lower magnetic arrays. So the solution we came up with for that, was to extend the 2nd and 3rd rods out at the ends to attach the magnets.

[sm0ky2]

and heres a video showing the friction on the outer rod.
you'll notice the "wall" is not a wall, but more of a "ramp".
the rod goes into it very smoothly, with very little resistance.
that is except when the rod doesnt move freely out of the field...
you can see i dont have to push this thing when the lower array is set in the right place. i just turn it so a rod is "up", and let it go.
the torque is more than enough to bring the rod into the array.
now its just a matter of freeing up that outer rod so it moves easily again. then calibrating the upper array.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt5jZmJykHY

{added: apparently i still dont have enough lamps in here, i can see just fine, but the video is still comming out a tad on the dark side. i'll try putting a light in the back facing the camera next time. }

[markdansie]

@smokey2
Once again on behalf of many (lot of people follow this and do not post) I thank you for the valuable information you are sharing with us. It is very much appreciated.
Mark

[markdansie]

@Smokey2
having watched the video I saw the bottom array with enough force to force the arm up. It then appears to get hung up at the sticking point. My understanding it was that the bottom array would force it so far and then the top array assisted enough to take it all the way. When you had it running before did you have the bottom array further back from the magnets on the end?
It might seem a silly question but I just did not know the answer
Mark